New York, N.Y. (Jan. 25, 2021) — The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO, today announced the formation of its Tech Workers Union Local 1010, an arm of the union with a mission to raise industry standards and provide all tech workers a better future in their workplaces through collective bargaining.
“OPEIU has been investing resources in supporting tech workers as they organize to gain rights and raise standards in the workplace for many years, but now we’re focusing and strengthening that effort by having an organization dedicated to, created for and run by tech workers who understand the unique challenges facing the industry,” OPEIU President Richard Lanigan said. “We’re proud to be building solidarity with working people across the sector so together we can ensure tech workers have a strong voice in their workplaces.”
With its historic organizing win at Kickstarter in 2020, OPEIU saw momentum for unionization across the tech sector. “Workers across the tech industry are facing many similar challenges as they build power with their colleagues,” said RV Dougherty, a Local 1010 tech organizer. “Tech companies have tremendous power and influence throughout the world, but within their own companies there is often a large imbalance of power that directly impacts salary, benefits and other working conditions and perpetuates inequality in the workplace.
“With Tech Workers Union Local 1010, we are creating space for tech workers to learn from one another so we can build strong campaigns and win legally binding contracts that help correct that imbalance,” Dougherty continued.
Local 1010 is now working with tech workers whose concerns run the gamut from ensuring their jobs are sustainable, to increasing transparency at work and creating fair and equitable pay and benefits for all workers no matter their role or identity.
“The campaigns vary based on the unique needs of each workplace and employees,” OPEIU Lead Organizer Grace Reckers said. “OPEIU puts employee creativity and leadership at the center of each campaign, while offering guidance, structure and training on how to navigate a union campaign.” The campaigns are inclusive of all employees in the industry, from engineers and designers, to community support agents, trust and safety analysts, product managers, salespeople, operations specialists, finance administrators and every other person who makes tech companies run.
“Unionizing tech is going to be a long road, but I’m stoked Tech Workers Union Local 1010 is helping build solidarity with tech workers across the industry,” said Dannel Jurado, an engineer and organizer with Kickstarter United, the employee group that led the organizing effort at Kickstarter. “A win for some tech workers is a win for all, and Kickstarter United is stronger as more tech workers join us in organizing their workplaces. We can’t wait to see what comes next, and hopefully it won’t be long before saying you have a union job in tech is commonplace.”
“Tech changes the world,” Reckers observed. “It’s time all the hardworking people who make that possible have a say in how that change comes about.”
For more information, visit techworkersunion-1010.org.
ABOUT OPEIU AND TECH WORKERS UNION LOCAL 1010
The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO, represents more than 103,000 working people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Representing employees in nonprofit organizations, credit unions, hospitals, insurance agencies, colleges and universities, hotels, administrative offices and more, OPEIU is committed to advancing economic justice for working people no matter their occupation. Professional organizations and guilds affiliated with OPEIU are a diverse group that includes podiatrists, registered nurses, hypnotists, teachers, Minor League Baseball umpires and helicopter pilots. OPEIU is an affiliate of the 12.5 million-member strong AFL-CIO.
OPEIU’s Tech Workers Union Local 1010 is organizing workers for a better future through collective bargaining in their own workplaces and beyond. Local 1010 is a local union within OPEIU created for and run by tech workers. Local 1010 is formed around a core of engineers, community support agents, designers, trust and safety analysts, product managers, salespeople, operations specialists, finance administrators and every other person that makes tech companies run.